In a setback to the incumbent Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) days before the Jharkhand Assembly elections, party leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s “proposer” in his nomination from the Barhait constituency, Mandal Murmu, joined the Opposition BJP fold on Sunday in the presence of the BJP’s Jharkhand poll in-charges, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

On October 27, Mandal Murmu’s vehicle was chased and stopped by the Giridih police. It was followed by his brief detention. He was reportedly accompanied by a few leaders of the BJYM, the BJP’s youth wing. They were soon allowed to leave. The JMM then alleged that it was a case of Murmu’s “abduction”.

The controversy snowballed, leading to intervention of the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO). Subsequently, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar pulled up the Chief Secretary and the DGP of the state over the incident, questioning why the police did not videograph its detention of Murmu and his vehicle.

Hitting out at the BJP, the JMM accused it of “hobnobbing” with CM Soren’s proposer. Murmu had then told The Indian Express: “So many political leaders come to our village to pay respect to my forefathers. I know many leaders, and I was going to meet them for personal reasons.”

Mandal Murmu, 28, a tribal resident of Sahibganj town, is a social activist. He is from Bhognadih village, which is part of Hemant Soren’s Barhait constituency in Sahibganj district in the Santhal Pargana division. He has a degree in polytechnic and is said to have “political aspirations”.

Murmu is a descendant of tribal icons Sidho Murmu and Kanho Murmu, who were among the six siblings – four brothers, Sidho, Kanho, Chand, and Bhairav, and their two sisters, Phoolo and Jhano – who led the “Santhal Hul (rebellion)” against the British in 1855, two years before the 1857 Revolt, and sacrificed their lives.

Bhognadih village was the epicenter of the Santhal Hul, which was an “organised war against colonialism” led by Santhals against the economic and other forms of oppression by the British and their collaborators. Led by Sidho and Kanho, it saw the participation of as many as 32 communities rallying behind them. The rebellion that raged around Rajmahal Hills of the Sahibganj belt was suppressed by the British army in early 1856.

Every year, Jharkhand commemorates June 30 as “Hul Diwas”, which marks the beginning of the rebellion, and April 11 as Sidho’s birth anniversary.

Murmu has maintained that Bhognadih village, from where Sidho and his siblings hailed, lacks basic amenities such as drinking water supply among other things. He said how politicians come to the village every year, but “nothing has happened for the villagers so far”.

Murmu has also sought to compare Bhognadih with tribal icon Birsa Munda’s village Ulihatu in Khunti district, saying the latter has been “developed”. “Bhognadih couldn’t get the recognition it deserves. The Santhal rebellion happened before even Birsa Munda was born (in 1875),” he said.

“The government and the administration must consider giving continuous water supply to Bhognadih village as their priority. We have protested, given numerous applications to them in this regard, but to no avail.”

Ulihatu village is said to have tarred roads, schools and drinking water supply in most homes. It has been visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu, even as Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary day, November 15, has been declared as “Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas (Tribal Pride Day)”.

Sources said that even before his formal induction into the BJP, Murmu was approached by the party with a proposal to contest on its ticket against CM Soren. A source said: “Mandal Murmu was approached, but he was not sure about running for the election, so the proposal was dropped. However, he has political aspirations. Maybe he was not prepared to fight this time, but he will be in action the next time.”

However, BJP leaders said the party would get Murmu to campaign for its candidates in the Santhal Pargana region which is up for the polls on November 20. In the 2019 Assembly elections, of the region’s 18 seats, the JMM had bagged 9 including all seven Scheduled Tribes (ST)-reserved seats, with its ally Congress winning four. The BJP had then won just four seats.

In CM Soren’s stronghold Barhait, Murmu would canvass for BJP candidate Gamliyel Hembrom.

The JMM has dismissed as “inconsequential” the BJP’s move to take Murmu on board. “Murmu might have been lured by the BJP into joining its fold. But he has lost his credibility, and the people will see through him,” said a JMM leader.